Motor-directly connected compressor unit

ABSTRACT

To provide a motor-directly connected compressor unit which is equipped with a cooling means for suppressing the heating of the compressor and is easy to transfer without upsizing the compressor unit in size or weight, the compressor unit is configured such that a sirocco fan  30  is arranged between a scroll compressor  20  and a drive motor  60  located under the sirocco fan  30 ; an output shaft  62  of the drive motor  60 , a drive shaft  33  of the sirocco fan  30  and a rotation shaft  28  of the scroll compressor  20  are linearly connected in the same straight line; a housing  32  of the sirocco fan  30  is fixed on a mount  50  which is supported on legs  54  via anti-vibration rubber pads  52 ; a cooling jacket is arranged to cover a top of a housing  21  of the scroll compressor  20 ; and an air outlet  31  arranged in the housing  32  of the sirocco fan  30  is in communication with a cooling jacket  40  via a duct  44  so as to feed air a from the sirocco fan  30  to the cooling jacket  40 , thereby cooling the scroll compressor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a transportable motor-directly connected compressor unit in which a compressor is directly connected to a motor, to which a cooling mechanism of a compressor can be annexed without making the compressor increase in size or weight.

2. Description of the Related Art

At a manufacturing plant, a compressor room housing a compressor is provided in a remote place from a manufacturing line to supply compressed air to be used in the manufacturing line at the plant. And a compressed air supply pipe is installed between the compressor room and each manufacturing floor to supply the compressed air from the compressor arranged in the compressor room to a manufacturing floor needing the compressed air. Not only it is expensive to install the compressed air supply pipes throughout the plant but also it is inconvenient to remove and reinstall the supply pipes in different places when the layout of the manufacturing floor is modified.

In contrast, there is a transportable compressor unit in which a compressor and a motor are integrated. The transportable compressor unit can be installed near the manufacturing floor in need. As a result, the compressed air supply pipes are eliminated and the compressor unit can easily accommodate the layout change of the manufacturing floor, thereby solving the above issue.

In recent years, in contrast to a line-production method, which is suitable for high-volume production, a cell-production method suitable for a high-mix low-volume production which requires fewer workers to assembly products is becoming popular. The transportable compressor unit is suitable for the cell-production line as well.

Patent Document 1 discloses a compressor unit integrating a compressor and a drive motor. According to Patent Document 1, the compressor unit is constructed so that the compressor and the drive motor can be easily separated for assembling or maintenance. The compressor unit is a vertical unit having a screw compressor under the compressor unit and a drive motor on top of the compressor unit. The screw compressor and the drive motor are coupled via a coupling casing and a rotor shaft of the screw compressor and a motor shaft of the drive motor are detachably connected via a shaft coupling which is insertable, and the coupling casing is supported on a mount of a flange by vibration-proof installation.

The compressor unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 is the vertical unit to save the installation space and the coupling casing is mounted on the mount via an anti-vibration member to suppress the vibration from the compressor.

RELATED ART DOCUMENT Patent Document

[PATENT DOCUMENT 1] JP6-193573A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved

It is necessary to provide a cooling means for removing compression heat from the compressor. Particularly, in a compression unit in which the compressor is directly connected to the drive motor, the drive motor is exposed to the compression heat. The performance of the compressor largely depends on removing of the compression heat.

However, the compressor unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 is not equipped with a cooling means and thus, does not take measure against the issue. Further, in the compressor unit of Patent Document 1, the compressor is arranged below the mount that is disposed horizontally, and thus the compression heat tends to be retained there, thereby promoting the area to be heated.

However, providing a cooling means in the compression unit means a larger compressor unit, or a heavier compressor unit, which makes the transportation thereof inconvenient and expensive.

In view of the problems above, an object of the present invention is to realize a motor-directly connected compressor unit, which is equipped with a cooling means for preventing the compressor from being heated, and is easy to transfer without upsizing the compressor unit in size or weight.

Means to Solve the Problems

To solve the above issue, the present invention proposes a motor-directly connected compressor unit in which a compressor is directly connected to a motor, comprising: a compressor having a rotation shaft; a drive motor arranged below the compressor and having an output shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor; an anti-vibration mechanism via which the compressor and the drive motor being supported on a mount; a blower arranged between the compressor and the drive motor and having a drive shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor at one end and to the output shaft of the drive motor at the other end; a cooling jacket arranged to at least partially cover a housing of the compressor; and a duct connected to an outlet of a housing of the blower at one end and to the cooling jacket at the other end so as to supply air discharged from the outlet of the housing of the blower to the cooling jacket.

The compressor unit of the present invention is equipped with a cooling means of above structure including the blower to suppress the heating of the compressor. Further, the blower is installed between the compressor and the drive motor and thus the drive motor is kept away from the compression heat generated in the compressor. As a result, the drive motor is insusceptible to the effect of the compression heat. Furthermore, the rotation shaft of the compressor, the drive shaft of the blower and the output shaft of the drive motor are disposed in a linear manner and thus, the compressor unit can be made compact in the vertical direction. Moreover, the compressor is installed on the top of the compressor unit so as to promote the heat release effect of the heat dissipation from the compressor, thereby improving the cooling effect of the compressor.

In the compressor unit of the present invention, it is preferable that the housing of the blower is fixed on the mount, and the drive shaft of the blower is connected to the output shaft of the drive motor via an elastic coupling. By this, the compressor unit is fixed to the mount via the blower housing which is installed between the compressor and the drive motor, and thus the compressor unit can be installed securely on the floor.

Further, the drive shaft of the blower and the output shaft of the drive motor are connected via the elastic coupling. By this, the dimension error generated in the process of manufacturing the drive shaft and the output shaft can be absorbed and the vibration is transmitted from the rotation shaft of the scroll compressor to the drive shaft of the blower. Then the vibration is absorbed before being transmitted to the output shaft of the drive motor, thereby reducing the vibration of the drive motor.

In the compressor unit of the present invention, it is also preferable that the blower includes a sirocco fan whose housing has a circular cross-sectional shape and which has an air inlet arranged in a central part of the housing and an air outlet arranged in a radially-outer part of the housing, the air inlet of the sirocco fan surrounding the drive shaft.

In this manner, the sirocco fan being small and light is used so that the compressor unit does not get bigger in size or weight. Further, the air inlet is arranged in the center part of the housing and the air outlet is arranged in the radially-outer part of the housing so that the air discharged in the radial direction of the housing by centrifugal force of the blades can be introduced to the duct directly. By this, the flections of the airflow are reduced and the pressure loss of the airflow is reduced as well. As a result, it is possible to maintain the amount of the cooling air and also to reduce the input of the sirocco fan.

In the compressor unit of the present invention, it is preferable that the compressor includes a scroll compressor in which an orbiting scroll formed integrally with a spiral lap is orbited by the rotation shaft of the compressor, the rotation shaft of the compressor and the drive shaft of the blower are linearly arranged in series, and the cooling jacket is arranged such as to cover a top surface of the compressor housing.

In this manner, the scroll compressor having fewer parts is used so that the compressor unit does not get bigger in size or weight. The duct for the cooling air is arranged to cover the outside of the fixed or orbiting scroll, thereby making the installation of the duct easier.

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

According to the compressor unit of the present invention, the motor-directly connected compressor unit in which a compressor is directly connected to a motor, comprises: a compressor having a rotation shaft; a drive motor arranged below the compressor and having an output shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor; an anti-vibration mechanism via which the compressor and the drive motor being supported on a mount; a blower arranged between the compressor and the drive motor and having a drive shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor at one end and to the output shaft of the drive motor at the other end; a cooling jacket arranged to at least partially cover a housing of the compressor; and a duct connected to an outlet of a housing of the blower at one end and to the cooling jacket at the other end so as to supply air discharged from the outlet of the housing of the blower to the cooling jacket. As a result, the heating of the compressor unit is suppressed and the upsizing of the compressor unit in size or weight is not required. Therefore, it is easier to transport the compressor unit and to meet the layout change of the plant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A perspective view of a compressor unit of one preferred embodiment, to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 A perspective view of the compressor unit from a different angle from FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 A perspective view of the compressor unit from another different angle from FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 A flat view of the compressor unit.

FIG. 5 A sectional view of the compressor unit taken along the line A-A of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is intended, however, that unless particularly specified, dimensions, materials, shape, its relative positions and the like shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not limitative of the scope of the present.

On preferred embodiment of a compressor unit to which the present invention is applied, is explained in reference to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5. In FIG. 1 to FIG. 3, a compressor unit 10 comprises a scroll compressor 20 arranged above the compressor unit 10, a sirocco fan 30 arranged under the scroll compressor 20, a cooling jacket 40 for cooling the scroll compressor 20, a mount 50 for supporting the compressor unit 10, and a drive motor 60 arranged below under the mount 50.

The mount 50 is formed flat and has anti-vibration rubber pads 52 adhered on the bottom surface thereof at four corners thereof. There are four legs 54 installed upright on the floor. The mount 50 is installed securely on the four legs 54 via the anti-vibration pads 52. In this manner, the vibration of the scroll compressor 20 is kept from being transmitted to the floor F. The vibration pads 52 and the legs 54 are illustrated only in FIG. 1.

A housing 32 for the sirocco fan 30 is fixed to a top surface of the mount via bolts 34. The fan housing is in a shape of a doughnut and has an air inlet arranged in a center part of the housing and houses a plurality of blades 38 disposed circularly. An air outlet 31 is arranged in a radially-outer part of the housing 32. The air outlet 31 is in communication with the cooling jacket 40 via a duct. The scroll compressor 20 is arranged above the sirocco fan 30 and the cooling jacket 40 is arranged to at least cover a top surface of a compressor housing 21 of the scroll compressor 20. The cooling jacket 40 comprises a discharge opening 42 for discharging the airflow a to a direction opposite at a connection part with a duct 44.

As shown in FIG. 5, the scroll compressor 20 comprises an orbiting scroll 22 a formed integrally with a spiral lap 22 a, and a fixed scroll 24 formed integrally with a spiral lap 24 a. The spiral laps 22 a and 24 a form a compression chamber c, and the compressed air having been compressed in the compression chamber c is discharged from a discharge port 26 arranged in a center part of the fixed scroll 24.

A drive shaft 33 is connected to the plurality of the blades 38 of the sirocco fan 30 to rotate the blades 38. The drive shaft 33 is arranged linearly in the same straight line with a rotation shaft 28 for turning the orbiting scroll 22 in an orbital motion. The drive shaft is coupled with the rotation shaft 28 at a top end of the drive shaft 33. Further, the drive rotation 28 and the drive shaft 33 are connected linearly in the same straight line with an output shaft 62 of the drive motor 60 under the drive shaft 33. A bottom end of the rotation shaft 28 is connected to the output shaft 62 via a rubber coupling 64.

A flange plate 66 a is formed on a top of the motor housing 66 of the drive motor 60 integrally with the motor housing 66. Between the flange plate 66 a and the bottom surface of the mount 50, a plurality of metallic spacers 68 are arranged to surround the output shaft 62. The motor housing 66 is positioned and fixed with respect to the mount 50 by means of the spacers 68. A boxed-shaped control panel 61 is mounted on the motor housing 66 to control the drive motor 60.

With the above structure, the output shaft 62 of the drive motor 60, the drive shaft 33 of the sirocco fan 30 and the rotation shaft of the scroll compressor are directly connected. Therefore, once the drive motor is actuated, the scroll compressor 20 is started and the sirocco fan 30 is started in conjunction or simultaneously as well. The scroll compressor 20 compress the air by turning the orbiting scroll 22 and then discharge the compressed air b from the discharge port 26.

Meanwhile, once the sirocco fan 30 is actuated, the blades 38 turns, thereby taking in the air from the air inlet 36 and then discharging the air from the air outlet 31. The air having been discharged from the air outlet 31 reaches the cooling jacket 40 through the duct 44. Then, the air cools the scroll compressor 20 which have been heated by the compression heat. After cooling the compressor, the airflow a is discharged from the discharge opening 42 of the cooling jacket 40.

According to the preferred embodiment, the scroll compressor 20 having fewer parts is used as a compressor and the sirocco fan 30 being small and light is used as a blower. The compressor 20, the sirocco fan 30 and the drive motor are arranged linearly in the vertical direction and the drive shaft 33 of the sirocco fan 30, the rotation shaft 28 of the scroll compressor 20, and the output shaft of the drive motor 60 are linearly connected, thereby making the compressor unit a compact unit standing upright. As a result, the compressor unit 10 is space saving, easy to transfer, and easily meets the layout change of the plant.

Further, the fan housing 32 of the sirocco fan 30 is fixed to the top surface of the mount 50 and the drive shaft 33 of the sirocco fan and the output shaft 62 of the drive motor 60 are connected, and thus the compressor unit 10 can be securely installed on the floor F. Furthermore, the drive motor 60 can be supported without a special supporting structure and thus, the compressor unit 10 can be made even more compact.

The drive motor 60 actuates the sirocco fan 30 and sends the air to the cooling jacket 40 so as to effectively cool the scroll compressor 20 having been heated by the compression heat. The sirocco fan 20 can be actuated by the same drive unit that actuates the scroll compressor 20, and thus a separate drive unit for actuating the sirocco fan is no needed. Further, the scroll compressor 20 is installed at the top of the compressor unit 10 and thus, radiation effect of the scroll compressor 20 can be enhanced. Furthermore, the sirocco fan 30 is installed between the scroll compressor 20 and the drive motor 60 so as to reduce the effect of the compression heat, to which the drive motor 60 is subjected to, maintaining the performance of the drive motor 60.

The drive shaft 33 of the sirocco fan 30 and the output shaft 62 of the drive motor 60 are connected via the rubber coupling 64. By this, the dimension error generated in the process of manufacturing the drive shaft 33 and the output shaft 62 can be absorbed and the vibration is transmitted from the rotation shaft 28 of the scroll compressor 20 to the drive shaft 33 of the sirocco fan 30. Then the vibration is absorbed before being transmitted to the output shaft 62 of the drive motor 60, thereby reducing the vibration of the drive motor 60.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITIES

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize a compressor unit, which comprises a cooling means for removing compression heat and is compact without taking too much installation space. The compressor unit can be a convenient supply source of compressed air, which can be moved and rearranged without restriction to meet layout change at the plant. 

1. A motor-directly connected compressor unit in which a compressor is directly connected to a motor, comprising: a compressor having a rotation shaft; a drive motor arranged below the compressor and having an output shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor; an anti-vibration mechanism via which the compressor and the drive motor being supported on a mount; a blower arranged between the compressor and the drive motor and having a drive shaft that is connected to the rotation shaft of the compressor at one end and to the output shaft of the drive motor at the other end; a cooling jacket arranged to at least partially cover a housing of the compressor; and a duct connected to an outlet of a housing of the blower at one end and to the cooling jacket at the other end so as to supply air discharged from the outlet of the housing of the blower to the cooling jacket.
 2. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 1, wherein the housing of the blower is fixed on the mount, and the drive shaft of the blower is connected to the output shaft of the drive motor via an elastic coupling.
 3. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 1, wherein the blower includes a sirocco fan whose housing has a circular cross-sectional shape and which has an air inlet arranged in a central part of the housing and an air outlet arranged in a radially-outer part of the housing, the air inlet of the sirocco fan surrounding the drive shaft.
 4. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 1, wherein the compressor includes a scroll compressor in which an orbiting scroll formed integrally with a spiral lap is orbited by the rotation shaft of the compressor, the rotation shaft of the compressor and the drive shaft of the blower are linearly arranged in series, and the cooling jacket is arranged such as to cover a top surface of the compressor housing.
 5. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 2, wherein the blower includes a sirocco fan whose housing has a circular cross-sectional shape and which has an air inlet arranged in a central part of the housing and an air outlet arranged in a radially-outer part of the housing, the air inlet of the sirocco fan surrounding the drive shaft.
 6. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 2, wherein the compressor includes a scroll compressor in which an orbiting scroll formed integrally with a spiral lap is orbited by the rotation shaft of the compressor, the rotation shaft of the compressor and the drive shaft of the blower are linearly arranged in series, and the cooling jacket is arranged such as to cover a top surface of the compressor housing.
 7. The motor-directly connected compressor unit according to claim 3, wherein the compressor includes a scroll compressor in which an orbiting scroll formed integrally with a spiral lap is orbited by the rotation shaft of the compressor, the rotation shaft of the compressor and the drive shaft of the blower are linearly arranged in series, and the cooling jacket is arranged such as to cover a top surface of the compressor housing. 